Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Fifty, Fit and Fab

It's my birthday today but no, I'm not fifty. But next year I will be. Most of the time I'm ok with that. But. I'm not so happy with how I look. The past 5 years have been tough on me physically; first I had cancer and the treatment for that pretty much trashed my thyroid and metabolism so I'm no longer the slim tiny person I used to be. When I behave like an adult I know I should be grateful I'm even here to bitch about my weight and appearance. But we all know I rarely behave like an adult and I doubt that's going to change anytime soon.

What will change is how I feel about my efforts to fix the problem. I've eaten quite well all along, and I've been exercising. Hell, last year I trained for and walked the 39.3 mile Avon Walk for Breast Cancer (2 days not 1 - we're not that crazy). But after doing some in-depth reading, I've come to the conclusion that maybe I'm not getting the right kind of exercise in the right amounts. That is going to change. Instead of just walking, I'm doing interval training. I'll do more than the treadmill at the gym. I'll lift weights again and really push it - I used to do it like crazy years ago and loved it; I'm not sure why I ever stopped.

I have no excuses. California weather is such that you can comfortably be outdoors most of the time (especially if you're from VT and don't consider 50F to be 'freezing'). I belong to a very nice gym that has so much equipment you never wait in line for it. There's a little gym at work that I can (and do) use for free. My office is very close to an entrance to the Los Gatos Creek Trail. And I live a half-block away from the Santa Teresa Foothills, on which there are hiking trails. Could it be any easier? Probably not. So here's my promise to myself: with the exception of days that I'm sick (and I mean a fever, not just a sniffle) I am going to do something to move or stretch my body every single day. I'll walk. I'll do intervals. I'll use every cardio machine in the gym (not all at once though). I'll use the weight machines and do free-weights. On days that are tougher to fit it in, I'll do pushups, crunches and lunges, lift small weights and stretch at home. I'll do something. Every day.

So what do I expect this will bring me? Well I hope it'll bring some semblance of my waistline back. I'd like some muscle definition. And while I can hike for 10 miles now, I'd like my recovery time to be faster when I do something to the point of exertion. Dropping a clothing size or two would make me happy too. All of those would be great. But what I also want to be able to say one year from now is that no matter how I look, I am doing everything within my power to be as fit and fab as I can. At fifty.

I actually started this a week ago, as soon as I came up with the idea. So far I've kept it up and I feel pretty good about that.

Rachel - again, happy birthday, and You GO Girl! I like your "every day" pledge. I need to think about that. When I'm running a lot, I tend to give myself too much slack on the days I don't run - it's all about eating chocolate and sitting on my behind. That's really not going to do much for me, ya know?

50 is coming down on me like a train too, in October. While I haven't had your difficulties, I did have to have emergency disc surgery four years ago that trashed the running program I was on and I'm not happy with what that did to my formerly awesome runner's physique. Up at least a size and horribly flabby. I like your plan, and even though I live in a much less salubrious climate and don't have gym access I'm going on it too, in some form. I'll think of you as I'm pushing through. Keep on keepin' on!